South Bay Digest

Torrance : Utilities Along Sepulveda to Be Placed Underground

The City Council has decided that utilities along Sepulveda Boulevard between Madrona Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard will be placed underground.

The city also agreed to pay half the cost of moving a large, steel, high-voltage utility pole on the northeast corner of Madrona Avenue 75 feet north. Southern California Edison will pay the other half of the $100,000 cost.

The city engineer had recommended establishing the underground utility district, the 11th in the city, to coincide with the planned widening of Sepulveda Boulevard to seven lanes. The widening project, which will not begin until July, 1987, will require eliminating all poles on the street's north side.

Edison has estimated that it will cost about $1.6 million and take two years to place the utility lines underground. The project will start in about six months.

Pacific Bell and Group W Cable, which share the poles, will put their lines underground simultaneously at their own expense.

Existing wooden poles holding street lights on the south side of Sepulveda will be replaced by marble poles.

In 1967, the state Public Utilities Commission ordered all electrical and telephone companies to budget money to put overhead utilities underground. Torrance is allocated about $300,000 each year from Edison and will borrow against future allocations to pay for the undergrounding project.